Last Friday afternoon, Sophia Sheehy, a 4th grader at Bournedale Elementary School, was at work in the school’s kitchen making pizza for her classmates. She sauced the pizzas, added a layer of cheese, and even topped some with slices of pepperoni. The cafeteria staff also taught Sophia about integrating healthier options into the meal, such as low sodium sauce and whole wheat pizza dough.

Chartwells is promising to help school foodservices establish a garden for students.
The contractor has teamed up with KidsGardening.org, a resource of of the National Gardening Association, to get the seeds planted nationwide. The program is called eat. learn. live. and aims to teach children about the sources of food and sound nutrition.
Schools are provided with a free 132-page resource guide, which officials say is the first-of-its-kind. It provides instruction on how to grow and sustain a garden regardless of “space, climate or resources.”

Chartwells K12 has launched the “eat. learn. live” School Garden Program in conjunction with KidsGardening.org, a resource of the National Gardening Association (NGA). A comprehensive resource to help guide educators through the process of successfully developing, growing and sustaining school gardens regardless of space, climate or resources they may have currently available, “eat. learn. live” offers a detailed garden playbook loaded with instructive and creative gardening tips, nutrition education materials and guidance for building community garden support.

​This week Popp’s Ferry Elementary, along with other Biloxi schools, is getting a taste of home grown Mississippi cuisine.
It’s all part of their Farm’s to Schools Week where nearly every menu item originates from here in Mississippi. Today’s entrée featured sloppy joe with fresh ground beef straight from McComb. Other menu items included southern peas from Churchill, baked sweet potatoes from Eunice, and mixed pepper strips from Lucedale.

Chef Mario Perez has won the national 2015 Be-A-Star Award as Chartwells Culinary Leader of the Year.
Campus faculty members and students alike have seen Perez’s dedication to his job up close and personal. He visits all of the district’s 28 campuses multiple times per year to promote healthy cooking and eating using nutritional foods.

Chartwells food service company designs fun, nutritious food options. Their programs bring chefs, registered dietitians and farm-to-school programs to 550 school districts in 38 states, said Chartwells spokeswoman Margie Saidel.
“Instead of focusing on what’s different about the meals — which kids don’t necessarily relate to — we focus on the culinary culture of the food,” Saidel said. “Students will be ready to learn and want to eat it.”

SHIPPENSBURG — Teaching children to become healthy eaters isn’t an easy job, but a little planning and imagination can go a long way.
Jared Ford, director of food services for the Shippensburg Area School District, said he plans menus a week at a time, carefully balancing the different components of a healthy meal and basing final food selections on federal regulations.